Grudge Breaker

Chapter 2 The man in the trap-
  The Forgotten River stretches as far as the eye can see, and the water is as black as oil.

The cliffs on both sides of the bank are rugged. There is a dilapidated suspension bridge on the Jiuxiao cliff that is swaying in the wind. A small black spot is moving slowly on it. Song Weichen is walking cautiously on the suspension bridge. The wind blows so hard that she can't open her eyes and has no time to look under the suspension bridge. The strange scene in the abyss.

Above the black water, I saw a soul-carrying boat hanging three feet in the air on the waves, quietly walking alone. Standing on the bow was a slender messenger in white robes, with a hood covering his head, and his gender could not be seen clearly. I saw him covering his hands with long sleeves, holding a bone lantern with shining teeth, facing the boundless black sea in front of him. Behind the white robe, there was a young woman huddled in the stern of the boat, sobbing, with tears in her eyes.

"Sir, the child is young, and her mother is in trouble at home. If she doesn't have me... she can't survive."

"My lord, please do well...please allow me three more days in the world, just three more days! Once I have settled my son, I will go with you even if there is no return from now on, okay?" The woman knelt at the stern of the boat and kowtowed to her. White robe, eyes desperate and eager.

The tinkling of wind chimes came from somewhere, ringing regularly.

Just as the woman was about to raise her head, a finger suddenly appeared out of thin air and clicked twice. Except for the tinkling of the wind chimes, everything was still.
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  I saw a girl in her early twenties yawning loudly through the iPad screen. The woman on the screen was kneeling and was about to get up. The word "Exclusive Broadcast" on the video website in the upper right corner of the screen was very conspicuous. It's a play.

The girl lay slanted and sleepy on the bed. She looked at the time, 14:30, and turned off the noisy mobile phone alarm next to her. The tinkling of the wind chimes suddenly stopped, and she stretched.

"What kind of drama is this? Did I turn on the iPad before going to bed?" Song Weichen was a little confused. She didn't remember watching the drama before going to bed. It felt like she had had a long dream, but unfortunately she could not recall the specific content. She only vaguely remembered a feeling, a light and airy feeling from the dream. She closed her eyes and tried to recall it.

A tall figure with a straight silhouette, he... The alarm on her phone rang again. Looking at the time, it was 14:35, Song Weichen was a little annoyed. She grabbed her phone and opened the settings, and set all the alarm clocks with five-minute intervals. Canceled.

She didn't see the handsome guy's face in the dream clearly, and she felt like she was at a huge loss.

Song Weichen glanced at the time on the wall clock, exhaled softly, got up from the sofa bed, covered the iPad that was on the pause screen in front of him, rubbed his long messy hair and went to wash his face.

Her biological clock is different from that of most people. Ordinary people work from nine to six and rest at sunset. She is the complete opposite: she rests at sunrise and works at dusk, working the night shift every day, spending long nights laughing and chatting with countless people.

Don't think blindly.
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  She is the "one of a kind" signed by an entertainment company called RealSoul.

RealSoul has a group of the most popular digital virtual idols in the country. There are different types of idols. Some idols sing and dance, some have fashion and makeup, some have mothers and babies, and some have emotional companionship. Song Weichen belongs to the last category. She has a fixed spot every night. Live broadcast, in the company's huge studio, put on motion capture equipment, transform into the popular virtual idol "Dream Eater" to meet everyone.

The so-called "man in the middle", to put it nicely, is the "soul" of the digital virtual idol (Vtuber), the core spiritual power in that "virtual leather case" that truly resonates with other people.

To put it bluntly, it is just a stand-in that will never see the light of day - a real human being is the "man in the middle" for an AI that does not really exist. It is inevitable that there is an irony that the fake is real and the real is fake.

But Song Weichen likes this job. She feels that she is the kind of puppet master who manipulated shadow puppets or puppets in the past. She gives the objects sounds, stories and souls, and creates a gentle dream for the world. Isn't it great?
  "Dreams are more powerful than reality." Song Weichen was sitting in the dressing room, applying makeup in front of the mirror, and said to Chen Liang, a famous parent-child anchor who came to watch her live broadcast.

Chen Liang looked at Song Weichen who was clumsily and conscientiously putting on false eyelashes, and showed a puzzled expression, "Weiwei, you said you are so good-looking, why do you want to be the winner? Please make your debut where you are and leave a note for us old aunties. Is it okay to survive?"

"Sister Xiaoliang, it's not good to have such a sweet mouth. Be careful of tooth decay." Song Weichen smiled and started to put on another false eyelash.

Chen Liang is twenty-seven years old. She used to be an actress. Later, in her own words, "I have endured it until I got angry. I can't even get a job as a special guest actor. I might as well come to live broadcast to bring goods." As a result, accidentally, She wanted to have a child but couldn't conceive, but she became the leading virtual anchor in the field of parent-child care, with top-notch sales ability. What's rare is that she is also very open-minded and likes to watch other people's live broadcasts in the company when she has nothing to do.

"I'm telling the truth..." Chen Liang looked at Song Weichen and pondered for a moment, "Weiwei, I've come to watch your live broadcast no less than ten times. I don't understand why you have to wear such formal makeup every time. We are all a cover-up. No matter how refined the fans are, they can’t even see the people inside.”

Song Weichen looked at himself in the mirror, "Human psychological cues are very strange. I know that fans can't see the real me. There is nothing wrong with me even if I wear pajamas for the live broadcast. But the psychological cues are different. I will give myself a I'm so sloppy and don't want to go out to see people, which is a hint of closedness. But wearing full makeup will be a completely opposite hint of openness. This hint will first be transmitted to myself, affecting my psychology and behavior, and then through the virtual world. The AI ​​image is transmitted to fans. Although they can't see us in the leather cases, they can truly feel our spirit, and the quality of our dreams will be truly different because of this."

Most afraid of the air suddenly quiet.

Chen Liang looked at Song Weichen thoughtfully. Song Weichen realized that he had talked too much, and no one liked his junior colleagues who always talked nonsense.

She blinked her eyes a few times and started to act cute, "Sister Xiaoliang, I'm making a mistake... No, I made a mistake.

Chen Liang suddenly laughed, "This guy is different with ink in his belly. You deserve to be popular. Your number of fans has increased so much faster than ours. Weiwei, I will also wear full makeup tomorrow!"
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  21: 00.

He tapped his fingers on different mobile phone screens. As his fingers moved, many hearts appeared on the screen, and the popularity value of the live broadcast room displayed in the upper right corner became higher and higher.

On the screen was a cute yet mysterious image of a two-dimensional girl. She was playing with a virtual moon in her hand. As the moon turned, the girl spoke, "I am Dream Eater. We meet again. I am The incarnation of the dream tapir spirit that is said to feed on dreams, feeds on nightmares and makes sweet dreams more beautiful. With me by your side tonight, everything you have will be sweet dreams."

Not surprisingly, the voice came from Song Weichen.

She was wearing multi-touch motion capture equipment from head to toe, and her movements were so close to merging with the virtual girl on the phone screen that it was hard to tell who was closer to reality.

She looked at the teleprompter screen and said, "Today, as usual, we will start with fans sharing their dreams. Let's start with the sharing of this friend named 'Sauvignon Blanc'."
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  No one knows that I can see ghosts, not even my fiancée who has been dead for seven years.

As usual, I went to the cemetery to see her on the weekends with flowers. Sure enough, she was still there, as if she had been waiting for me. I stood in front of the tombstone and talked about my recent work and life. I even danced when I was excited. If anyone else was there, they would probably think that I was sick. But I know she heard every word I said.

She died because of my drunk driving. Seeing her still laughing in front of me because of the little things, I was in a trance. She was still as beautiful as she was seven years ago, but half of my hair was gray.

I suddenly stopped talking, and she squatted opposite me obediently and watched me silently add paper money to the brazier. I brought a lot of paper money, but I burned it for a long time without finishing it. She was silent for a long time, "I will never come here again." I thought she was already there. The soulless body felt even more lost and depressed.

I took out a small red notebook. Inside was a photo of me and another woman, wearing a white shirt with a red background. I burned the red book and gave it to her, "This is my wife. I just got the certificate. You said that men should be single-minded, so I won't come here anymore. You should find a good family as soon as possible." The paper was flying with ashes. , Shuofeng wildfire.

It turns out that ghosts really don't shed tears. She just covered her face and squatted on the ground, her shoulders shaking. Finally he stood up and smiled at me, his face gradually becoming transparent.

"Hey, it's the end, why don't you say something to curse me."

She disappeared and I woke up completely from my sweet dream.

I heard from the old man that if a ghost does not reincarnate for seven years, he will never be reincarnated again and will fall into the ghost realm forever.

Is it because you keep coming back so often?
  Sorry, the photo was generated using ChatGPT, and it was a fake ID issued by someone.

Actually, I got one for both of us. I didn’t want to burn it for you, so I just wanted to keep it in my mind.
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  Song Weichen is a very empathetic person. She cannot finish reading this dream. At this moment, she is trying hard to restrain herself. Her throat hurts from the pressure and she is speechless. Fans seemed to feel Song Weichen's true emotions from the dream-eating state. The words "Eat dreams and don't cry" began to flood the screen, and even became a hot search for a time.

"I'm sorry, I lost my composure," Song Weichen thought to himself. There was no motion capture of my tears, so how did they know I was crying.

She paused again, "Dream Eater is born with the ability to swallow nightmares and create beautiful dreams. Sauvignon Blanc, I don't like your dream very much. Dream Eater will eat it in exchange for your lifelong lover getting married, okay I can’t wake up from the dream.”

For a while, "We finally got married, we never wake up from such a sweet dream" swiped the screen again.

I don't know who posted the sentence, "Eating dreams deserves to enjoy the Ancestral Temple!" which triggered a new round of swiping.
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  The live broadcast room was very popular tonight, and everyone was very happy, but they didn't notice a pair of eyes looking at Song Weichen in the corner, jealousy like a faint flame under the charcoal pile.

The owner of those eyes is Chen Liang.

There were many lights in the shed and it was very hot. Water dropped from the plastic cup of the iced coffee that Chen Liang had just drank, making her hands wet. She placed the coffee cup on the hollow wrought iron shelf next to her as if venting her anger, and waved her hands bitterly. A little bit of water on her hand happened to be thrown into the sockets of the pile of wire boards under the shelf, causing a stir in the studio. The lights flashed.

Everyone in the shed didn't know what happened. They looked at each other for a moment, and "Dream Eater" was also obviously stunned.

"Is it stuck? Or is the Dream Eater card bug?" Many people asked on the screen, and the number of people online began to decrease. After the director reminded Song Weichen, the live broadcast room returned to normal.

Looking at the pile of power strips on the ground, and looking at Song Weichen in front of him who was wearing a motion capture suit but full of makeup, Chen Liang twitched the corner of his mouth and saw her moving the cup of coffee nonchalantly and placing it "just right" It was placed on the shelf above the power strip, and the water droplets coming out of the cup quickly gathered towards the bottom of the cup.

After doing all this, Chen Liang walked to the other side of the studio as if nothing had happened, taking out his mobile phone and writing something while walking.
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  At this time, a fan named "Nan Ke" made a speech that was a little out of the blue: Dream Eater, you have been pretending all day long that you can eat other people's nightmares, will you really suffer retribution and fall into nightmares? Never come out again?
  It was a coincidence that at the moment when these words appeared on the screen, the studio lights flickered again for no reason and then returned to their original state. For some reason, Song Weichen recalled the light and airy feeling in his previous dream.

"It's just that the voltage is unstable, don't be distracted," the director's gentle voice came from the headset.

Only then did Song Weichen realize that he was distracted.

"What a person has experienced is what he will become." Song Weichen said, "Nan Ke, I don't know what you have experienced, but I think you must be uncomfortable because you don't even want to dream."

Shi Meng looked at himself, "Of course everyone knows that Shi Meng is fake, and the so-called Dream Tapir's abilities are also fake. However, all the friendships and wishes generated in this live broadcast room are true.

The shed light flickered a few more times, and a large amount of moisture gathered in the bottom of the plastic cup of iced coffee and was dripping onto the wiring board.

Chen Liang glanced at the place where she was standing from a distance, and the smile on her face became more obvious. She even looked at Song Weichen with an encouraging smile.

Tick ​​tock, a drop of water passed through the gap in the iron frame and splashed onto the wiring board.

Tick ​​tock, another drop of water fell on the edge of the socket on the wiring board.

If nothing else, there will be an accident.
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  "Do friends who come to chat with Dream Eater really hope that Dream Eater will create a beautiful dream for them? I don't think so. I hope that after speaking out, they will have the courage to realize that dream or fight against that nightmare."

"However, Nanke, I am a little angry now. If I am so frightened by what you just said that I have nightmares tonight, I will definitely drag you along! I..."

Tick.

Snapped! There was a flash of sparks, and the entire studio was instantly plunged into darkness.
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  It's strange that once there's no light in the studio, the blackness takes on a weight that makes people breathless.

Song Weichen's eyes were dark. She tried to tell herself that the studio had a power outage to calm herself down, but she instinctively felt that something was wrong - where were the people? There must be a commotion of people around, but why is no one talking? The wind is blowing all around, as if I am standing in an extremely empty and high place.

She took two tentative steps in the darkness, swaying and unable to balance her body.

In a daze, Song Weichen felt that she was walking on a decaying suspension bridge, and she stepped on the most fragile wooden board with a slight backstroke. With the sound of broken wood, the suspension bridge was disconnected, and she fell rapidly, with the wooden floor beneath her feet. Abyss!

(End of this chapter)